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November 30, 2003

NeoClassical Obscurities

A difficult poem:

Lope de Vega
Soneto CXXXIV

De los Inventores de las Cosas

Halló Baco la parra provechosa,
Ceres el trigo, Glauco el hierro duro,
los de Lidia el dinero mal seguro,
Casio la estatua en ocasión famosa.

Apis la medicina provechosa,
Marte las armas y Nemrot el muro,
Scitia el cristal, Galacia el ámbar puro,
y Polignoto la pintura hermosa.

Triunfos Libero, anillos Prometeo,
Alejandro papel, llaves Teodoro,
Radamanto la ley, Roma el gobierno,

Palas vestidos, carros Ericteo,
la plata halló Mercurio, Cadmo el oro,
Amor el fuego y Celos el infierno.

My translation is not line-by-line but invention-by-invention, for clarity:

  1. Bacchus discovered the useful/profitable vine,
  2. Ceres wheat,
  3. Glaucus hard iron,
  4. the Lydians insecure money,
  5. Cassius the statue on a well-known occasion.
  6. Apis useful/profitable medicine,
  7. Mars weapons,
  8. Nimrod the wall,
  9. Scythia glass,
  10. Galatia pure amber,
  11. and Polygnotus beautiful painting.
  12. Liber triumphs,
  13. Prometheus rings,
  14. Alexander paper,
  15. Theodorus keys,
  16. Rhadamanthus laws,
  17. Rome government,
  18. Pallas [Athena] clothes,
  19. Erectheus chariots/vehicles,
  20. Mercury discovered silver,
  21. Cadmus gold,
  22. Love fire,
  23. and Jealousy Hell.

The structure is clear enough: a list of ancient inventions leads up to a witty twist in the last line. However, there are some puzzles along the way:

  1. Why is provechosa ("useful, profitable") repeated in lines 1 and 5? It seems inept, or at least insufficiently pointed.
  2. Why are Bacchus and Liber listed in lines 1 and 9 as if they were different gods?
  3. Most important, where did Lope get some of these identifications? Ovid's Ibis is obscure enough: this poem seems even more opaque. Some of course are easy: 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, and 17. Some I have read elsewhere, though I wouldn't be able to quote a source without research: 8, 11, 13, and 19. Some take a bit of thought: no doubt Pallas is the inventor of clothes (18) as goddess of weaving. But close to half are very puzzling. Who is this Cassius who invented statues (5), and why was the occasion famous? Which Glaucus invented iron (3): the henchman of Sarpedon, the owner of the man-eating horses, the short-lived son of Minos, the one who jumped into the sea and became a god, or some fifth man of the same name? Did Alexander the Great invent paper (14), or was that some other Alexander? What Theodorus invented keys (15)? And when and how did Mercury discover silver (20) and Cadmus gold (21)? It's all very puzzling, though the language is quite straightforward.
Posted by Michael Hendry at November 30, 2003 06:43 PM
Comments
When I come across this kind of odd, out of the way erudition, I always assume the source is Pliny the Elder. I looked up 'paper' in the index of my Penguin Classics selection and, sure enough, Book Thirteen Chapter 69 starts: "According to Marcus Varro, paper was discovered as a result of the victory of Alexander the Great and his foundation of Alexandria in Egypt." Again, Book 34, chapter 15: "I find that the first image cast in bronze in Rome was that of Ceres; it was paid for out of the property of Spurius Cassius, who was executed by his own father when he tried to make himself king." Book 7, chapter 191: "Ceres was also the first to give laws- or, as others think, Rhadamanthus". Chapter 197: "The mining and smelting of gold was invented by Cadmus the Phoenician at Mount Pangaeus." Chapters 198-199: "the square, plummet, lathe and lever were invented by Theodorus of Samos" (no mention of keys - at least in this translation- but 'llave' can mean 'spanner or wrench' in Spanish too, so I think this is our man). I suspect the answers to the rest will be found in the sections left out of the Penguin edition, although the mention of Mercury might simply be due to his association with 'quicksilver'. Posted by: C.Bloggerfeller at January 2, 2004 03:25 PM